Suffering
by rainxface
Summary: Dylan and Max or Fang and Max. Choices, choices. Short songfic with the song "Pretty Girl (The Way)" by Sugarcult.


**Suffering**

**by rainxface**

**Disclaimer: JP for MR, Sugarcult for "Pretty Girl (The Way)".**

Dylan was at it again. His big puppy-dog eyes looking so innocently at the mess he just caused. Unwillingly caused, but still caused. His arms were hanging loosely by his sides, his fingers itching to grab my hands, crossed over my chest. His jaw was low, barely open enough to feel like it.

My breath was fuming. I clenched my teeth hard against each other; if I bit my lip or cheek, I would have bled. I could only hope that my eyes were piercing daggers into his.

"Max, I – " Dylan began.

"I can't _fucking _believe you!" My arms shot into the air. "You honestly think that I would give up living with the flock for _you_?" I shoved Dylan against the refrigerator behind him. Pinning him, I continued. "What, am I some numb-skull that can't handle a flock that she's always been a leader of for _fucking years, _longer than you've even _been alive_?"

"Max, please hear me out."

"Hear you out? For what? For more subliminal misogynist ideals to be slipped my way?"

"Misogynist?" Dylan shouted. "I told you to leave with me because this environment is toxic! Not because you're a bad leader!"

"Oh, please, enlighten me for how this is a toxic environment for me if not bad for me to be a strong leader of my own flock," I spat, but I unpinned him, sitting lightly on the kitchen table.

Dylan pulled out the chair next to me, calmly looking only at his hands. "It's Fang, and – "

"So, we're back to this argument, are we? I already told you that we never really happened!"

"Not according to him! To him – "

"What, did you talk about this while measuring your dicks on a ruler?"

"Max, listen to me."

"No, every time you bring up Fang your credibility goes completely out the window. I can't listen to you because you still think you're in a fight with him over me! Guess what, I chose you!" I started walking away from the kitchen, back to the girl's room of the Martinez household.

"Maximum Ride: listen to me right now," Dylan boomed. I stopped, my hands curling into fists, and my anger beginning to boil again. "I don't give a shit that he says you two were something. I give a shit that he told me that he won't stop to win you."

"Guess what: he just turned me into a prize, which means I will never be with him," I said, turning to face Dylan.

"Isn't that what you did with us, though? Tell me that I won you, that you chose me over him. It's not a great feeling from this side, either." Dylan stood up, walking towards me so my chin had to rise to look him in the eye.

_Pretty girl is suffering, while he confesses everything  
Pretty soon she'll figure out what his intentions were about  
That's what you get for falling again  
You can never get 'em out of your head_

Dylan walked out of the room, leaving me still angry without a retort. The air was cold and sharp; my hair had an unsettling way about my face; the silence filled by the clock was wrong. My eyes wanted to well up, but as I reached into the cupboard above the fridge, I fought the tingling sensation and poured myself a small whiskey.

I sat at the table, most of the night. The ice had melted only half an hour after I poured my drink. I made a second around three, a third around five, and a fourth at seven before anyone woke.

The sun over the trees hit my eyes at about half past. On cue, Fang was the first awake, not-so-silently stalking through the kitchen and rummaging through the contents of the fridge.

"You might wanna get rid of that drink before your mom wakes up," he mumbled, sitting down next to me and biting into an apple.

I couldn't look at him. I still had half of my drink left, but I didn't want to waste it. I threw it all back, the burning lasting longer down my throat, and I put the glass in the sink, the whiskey back in the cupboard.

"It must have been some fight between you two last night if you're still drinking now," he commented. "I don't think I've ever woken up this late to you drinking. It's a new record."

"Do you still want me?" I interjected, my back still to him, facing the sink.

"Wha?" he responded, apple still in his mouth. I turned around, my eyes latched onto his.

"I didn't fucking stutter. Do you still want me?"

Fang swallowed his apple bite, his eyes transfixed on mine. "I don't understand," he whispered.

I pulled his chair from underneath him, away from the table and climbed onto his lap. I grabbed his shirt by the neck and jerked him close as I whispered in his ear, "Do you want to have sex with me?"

Fang tried pushing me off, trying to stand up, but I pushed downwards. I crushed my lips against his, his lips warmer than Dylan's but uninviting. His attempts to thwart me failed, but he tore away from my lips.

"You smell like whiskey – I know this isn't you, Max. Get off of me," he heaved to avail. I leaned in to kiss him again, but he snaked his arm between us and dropped his half eaten apple core down the front of my shirt.

_It's the way_  
_That he makes you feel_  
_It's the way_  
_That he kisses you_  
_It's the way_  
_That he makes you fall in love_

"You're shitting me, Fang!" I yelped, jumping off of him. I pulled the apple core out of my shirt as he stood up. "Hey, where the fuck are you going?"

Fang stopped before the sliding glass door to the backyard. "I'm going for a small fly – surely you can leave me alone for a moment while you sober up a bit?" He opened the door and immediately took off.

"I'm not fucking drunk!" I chased after him, wings out stretched to begin flying, but I halted. He was already too far away for me to catch.

I woke up in the guy's room, my head only a little light. No one else was there; the clock in the corner said 3:45pm, but I didn't trust it. I was in the bed, the door and blinds all closed.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes and yawning. "Fuck," I whispered. I let my head fall back, accidentally hitting the wall behind it. "Fuuuuck."

Dylan burst in through the door, his eyes wide for me. "Are you okay, Max?" He sat down on the edge of the bed, his arm outstretched to lure me in for a hug.

"I'm fine," I scoffed. "Why am I in here?"

"I found you on the ground, either past out or asleep, but you smelled like alcohol, and I didn't want Dr. M to find you like that." He played with my hair, tucking it behind my ear.

"It was whiskey," I corrected, pushing his hand away.

"Babe, why were you drinking?" his puppy eyes asked. And his mouth.

"You really need to ask me that after last night?" I raised my eye brow, skeptical. I rolled my eyes, waiting for a response, but giving up. "Whatever. Can you just leave me alone for a while? I want to sleep."

Dylan said of course and left without another word.

I waited for his footsteps to end ear shot before I sought Fang's laptop. I opened it to Google, looking up a few personality things. Nothing became conclusive, though, after searching for an hour. I got up, moving the laptop to the only table in the room, and peeked through the blinds. I expected to see Dylan up there, possibly playing some game with Angel and Nudge.

But then another bird kid shadow joined the group. I did a quick mental count, hearing Gazzy and Iggy vaguely in the garage.

I jumped back into the bed, pulling off my top clothes. Patiently, I waited under the white sheets, my hair somewhat less frizzy after a couple pat-downs.

"Max?" Fang nearly shouted, closing the door quickly behind him as he entered. "What the fuck are you doing in here?"

I smirked. "Do you want to have sex with me? I'm sober now."

"Do you think the only reason I wouldn't sleep with you this morning was because you were drunk?" Fang yanked off his wind breaker. "Dylan is still here! I can't just have sex with you because you ask me to!"

"So if Dylan wasn't here, you would have sex with me?"

"You're with him. You didn't want me. You chose him over me."

"I never said I didn't want you. I want you hot right now, actually." I grabbed his arm, gently tugging him towards the bed. I bit my lip lightly, hoping to look as sexy as the girls with low self-esteem personalities.

_She's beautiful as usual with bruises on her ego and_  
_Her killer instinct tells her to beware of evil men_  
_And that's what you get for falling again_  
_You can never get 'em out of your head_  
_And that's what you get for falling again_  
_You can never get 'em out of your head_

"Max, listen to me: You're still with Dylan," Fang tried to reason.

"Not right now, I'm not," I whispered. I removed his black shirt, walking my fingers up his chest as I dragged him on top of me. "Right now, I'm yours, and that's all I've ever been."

I locked my lips against his, this time he kissed me back. He trailed kisses down my torso, kissed both hips, and trailed them back up to my lips. I moaned as my hips jerked up towards him. His arm snaked behind my back, and I linked both arms around his neck. In one fluid motion, we flipped to the other side of the bed, me now resting on top of Fang.

I started kissing his abs, also kissing his hips, loving when he jerked his hips into mine. I nuzzled into his neck, lightly biting his shoulder and neck.

"I've always wanted you, Max," Fang whispered into my ear.

I sat up, my hands resting on Fang's chest. "No more talking," I said.

Fang barely nodded as I leaned back down to unbutton his pants.

"Max? Why now?" Fang asked, lying bare next to me in bed. His arm was wrapped around me as I laid my head on his chest and drew circles into his skin.

"It was a realization I had last night. I wanted you to know that you had won me," I breathed.

"Won you? Does this have to do with your fight with Dylan last night?" Fang rushed to sit up. I pulled myself up to sit next to him, covering myself with the blankets.

"He doesn't exist right now," I defended.

"So it does belong somewhere in the fight between you two?" Fang shuffled to get out of the bed, but I latched on to his arm with little more strength than intended.

"Please, Fang. It was always you; please, listen to me?" I said. "I'm sorry, but I was only fronting with Dylan for the flock to make it seem like I wasn't the only person in charge, but most of Dylan's ideas were mine because his ideas were dumb, like going to Canada."

Fang ripped away his arm, pulling his boxers back on. "So why now? You could have told me this a year ago when you dumped out my heart and stomped on it."

"It wasn't good timing, but I needed Dylan to believe me! It sounds shitty, I know, but I needed him to believe me that I wasn't going to choose you over him." I sighed, scratching the back of my head. "Please, don't go right now."

"Why pull this on him? He's a child."

"Exactly! He's a child! Not exactly boyfriend material, but you – "

"But I'm not a child, and that's the only think I have over him." Fang scoffed and pulled his shirt on, leaving not a second later.

_It's the way_  
_That he makes you feel_  
_It's the way_  
_That he kisses you_  
_It's the way_  
_That he makes you fall in love_

I threw on my clothes at lightning speed. "Fang! Wait, please!" He was already up in the sky with Dylan, though, and I could see how sharply Dylan's eyes narrowed at me as soon as he saw Fang. Dylan flew down towards me, landing a foot in front.

"Max, what happened? What are you doing with Fang?" Dylan fumed, his towering body making me coward towards the house. "Stop running away when I'm talking to you. Didn't we just discuss this last night?"

"We did, we did," I panted. "But it was Fang. It was him. He started talking about how he's always wanted me. I couldn't do anything. Believe me!"

Dylan's eyes darted from me to Fang and back to me.

"Don't listen to her!" Fang shouted. "She waited for me, naked in _our bed._"

"Why would I ever do that?" I cried. "Dylan, please. You love me, you trust me."

"I don't know what to think, honestly. First, I find you asleep in the kitchen smelling like _whiskey_, and now Fang is telling me that you tried to have _sex_ with him?"

"Oh, I did have sex with her, she made sure that little bit happened," Fang said.

"You had _sex_ with this asshole?" Dylan screamed. "I don't think I do trust you. I love you, Max, but I can't pretend that Fang didn't just tell me this. Tell me right now if it's true."

"I – " I choked.

"Tell me!" Dylan bellowed. He slowly started walking towards me again, his shadow like a box around me. "Tell me! Tell me!" His hand scraped across my cheek before my eyes saw it coming. It stung, like a million bees on my cheek all stinging me at once.

"Hey!" Fang ran to me, trying to barrier himself between Dylan and me. But Dylan punched Fang, his nose bleeding profusely.

"Don't try to defend this little whore. She's not worth it," Dylan growled.

"Then why is it worth it to beat her?" Fang garbled.

Dylan's hand was back in the air, this time in a fist. "You know what, you're right, Fang. You just brought her out to me for us to have a quaint little talk, and everything would be mended back to normal." Dylan's fist met with my abdomen as his upper cut hit me with all his power. I had no wind in my lungs as I fell to the ground.

_Pretty girl is suffering, while he confesses everything_  
_Pretty soon she'll figure out_  
_You can never get 'em out of your head_

Fang tried to run to me again. "Maybe nothing would be resolved, but it wouldn't end in physical violence, like all you ever seem to know." He covered me with his body and wings, trying to pick me up away from Dylan.

"Leave her here!" he cried, almost jumping over Fang to pull me out of his arms.

"No, I won't."

Dylan swerved in front of Fang, his fingers digging into my arms to yank me out of Fang's arms. I fell to the ground when Fang let go to hit Dylan in the eye. A few quick kicks were all Fang could muster before Dylan attacked, his power almost pushing Fang down. I crawled away from under them, taking a fighting stance once I stood back up. I waited for Fang to have the offensive again, but with as many hits that Dylan was landing on Fang, a switch of possession did not look to be in the future.

Knowing I would regret it for years, I grabbed Dylan's wings and jerked them back only a little, not enough to break anything. Dylan lurched back in pain, a scream loudly leaving his mouth. I punched Dylan again before he knocked me back down, but it was enough of a distraction for Fang.

Fang pounced on Dylan, bringing both of them to the ground next to me. Fang was straddling Dylan, laying punch after punch on Dylan's face. Fang's breath was heavy, and I pulled him off of Dylan once he was twitching.

"Fuck," Fang grunted as we both pulled ourselves up.

"I'm sorry, Fang, it's my fault," I apologized. We went into the kitchen where everyone gathered, too afraid to join outside.

Fang was silent. He set me down on a chair at the table. He poured two glasses of whiskey and joined me at the table. Mom tried to protest, I heard from behind me, but the look that Fang gave her told her not to say anything.

"Are we going to do anything with Dylan outside?" Iggy asked.

Fang drank some whiskey before answering. "If when he wakes up, he doesn't leave, then we will do something about him."

Fang and I sat there, drinking our whiskey, as everyone dispersed to other parts of the house, only Iggy going outside to wait on Dylan.

_It's the way_  
_That he makes you cry_  
_It's the way_  
_That he in your mind_  
_It's the way_  
_That he makes you fall in love_

"Do we need to talk about anything?" I asked, whiskey glass at my mouth.

"No," Fang said, not looking at me in the eyes. "At least, not right now."

"If not now…?" I put down my glass and reached for Fang's hand. "You just fought off Dylan for me, so I'm pretty sure we should talk."

"Why?" Fang spat as he slammed his glass down on the table, still not looking at me. "All I've heard from you are lies. I don't think I can trust you now to talk and be honest with me." His head twitched towards me, but stayed off to the side. "Get it?"

He picked up his whiskey and knocked it back. He got up and made himself another. I stared down at my half drank whiskey. I focused on watching one ice cube melt, but the lack of heat wasn't helping it.

"What if I promise to be truthful?" I asked, looking back at Fang who was still standing next to the counter.

"Liar," he answered. I rolled my eyes, exasperated.

"But you agree that we need to talk, right?"

Silence. The hands on the clock ticked louder and louder with each second.

Fang grunted. He grabbed his glass and bottle and sat back down at the table. "Just know that if you don't tell the truth, I'm out of here. This is your only chance to have me and not fuck it up."

I gave a slight grin. "Thank you." I knocked back my whiskey and poured myself another. "Well, today wasn't the first day for Dylan to do that."

"Do what? Attack you? Hit you? Max, did he hit you?" Fang looked furious, looking back over at Dylan's body now glazed orange from the setting sun.

"Well, yes and no. He tried to, but I usually beat him to it, but he's gotten better and faster in the past year. So, yeah." I spun my whiskey glass around on the table, watching the ice float around.

"Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. Maybe I was afraid of what would happen to Dylan?" I took a gulp of whiskey, resting my head on my arm on the table.

"Afraid of what we would do to him?" Fang half joked. "In any matter, you should have come to me. You of all people should know that it's wrong to hit girls."

"I should, and yet, look at me," I groaned, remembering how hard it was of an upper cut that Dylan hit me.

"Well, I'm not saying that it's going to happen again, but if it does," Fang grabbed my hand, his fingers cold from the glass of whiskey and ice, "please never hesitate to tell me. Tell your mom. Tell anyone."

I looked at Fang for a minute: his eyes were somber beneath the purple bruising beginning to form. It was the same look from the day on the beach, years ago. Scared, mixed with hatred.

I nodded, "Okay."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

Fang held up my hand and kissed it, his lips like butterflies.

"I'm sorry about earlier," I whispered. I took some more whiskey. "It was very out of line of me."

"The sex part? Yes, it was. I hope you never do anything like that again. Not the sex part, but the lying and what could have easily been turned into a rape story. Please, never that again." Fang propped up my chin with his finger, his thumb and index finger making a perfect bench. I licked my lips a couple of times, trying to search for the right apology.

"Never," I choked. I knocked back my last bit of whiskey and pulled my chair next to Fang. I sat down and laid my head across his shoulder, his arm wrapped around me.

"Is it okay that I legitimately choose you now?" I asked.

Fang kissed my temple before looking down at me. "Only if it's because you want me and not that I'm the only choice left."

"Well, there's always going to be Iggy, so technically…" I joked, my abs hurting with each little chuckle. "But no, I choose you because I love you."

**So that was totally written in only one night. Four hours, actually. I'm proud of myself.**

**Smiles,**

**rainxface**


End file.
